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her right hand against her chest. “Yes.”

They spoke for a few more minutes before signing off, but once she

was free to do so, Ivy raced through the citadel back to her quarters. She

entered through the door just as Kai stepped out of the bathroom, a

fluffy, gray towel slung low on his hips. Even the delicious sight of him

half-naked and dripping wet couldn’t distract her as she repeated for

him the conversation she’d had with Sully.

“Ambassador Ivy Blackthorn,” Kai mused when she finished. “I do

like the sound of that.”

“It’s Dalton for a few more hours yet.”

Grinning mischievously, he crossed the room of their shared

quarters, backing her toward the foot of the bed. “I’m only practicing,

dove.”

“What are you doing?” Ivy pushed at his chest when the back of her

knees hit the mattress, but naturally, it did her no good. “We’re supposed

to be getting ready for the ceremony.”

“We have time.” He dipped his head, nibbling along the curve of her

throat. “What did Medic Winters say?”

Ivy had met with the medic for her final checkup that morning before

the vid comm with Sully. The gash in her back had healed quickly after

the administration of the salve from the
amrita
flower, and she didn’t

even have a scar to remind her of that day. She’d also been eating and

sleeping like a normal person again, so she’d regained the weight she’d

lost, which had made everyone happy.

“According to my tests, I’m completely healed and healthy.” A shiver

raced down her spine when Kai slid his hands beneath the hem of her

tunic and skimmed his nose along her jawline. “So, that

means…that…I…what was I saying?”

“Mm,” he hummed, lowering her to the bed, his hand splayed across

her lower back to support her weight. “You talk too much.”

While her injuries from the attack had healed quickly, Medic Winters

had kept her under observation because of the damage she’d done to her

body with poor diet and too much exercise. Refusing to do anything that

might hurt her or slow her recovery, Kai had barely touched her in

weeks. At first, it had been sweet, but as the days passed and she grew

stronger, his denial became more irrational, and her frustration

mounted. She missed her mate, missed feeling the closeness with him

they shared when their bodies were twined together as one.

Encircling his neck with her arms, she pulled him down on top of her,

holding on tightly as she pressed their mouths together. “And you have

on too many clothes, love.” In the next instant, they were both naked,

skin against warm skin. “Nice.”

“I thought you didn’t like magic.”

Mostly, she didn’t, but she could admit when it had its uses. This

would be one of those times. “Now, who’s talking too much?”

Words ceased, replaced by quiet whimpers and hushed groans as

they moved together on the mattress. His tongue sank between her

parted lips, exploring the depths of her mouth. The rough calluses on his

fingers and palms told her he’d been training recently, and the scent of

hollygrass still lingered in the air from his shower.

Heat emanated from his smooth, pale skin, and his corrugated abs

flexed when she trailed her fingertips between the hard bricks of muscle.

Careful, always so careful with her, he looped his arm beneath her right

knee, lifting her leg and stretching it out to the side.

Her pussy clenched when the tip of his cock nudged against her

entrance, and she bit her bottom lip, shuddering as he sank into her,

stretching her, filling her. Holding him tightly, Ivy matched the roll of

his hips, moaning as they undulated together in the afternoon sun that

spilled through the windows.

As the tempo increased, so did her pleasure, and she arched against

her mate, begging wordlessly for release. Her erect nipples tingled where

they pressed against Kai’s chest, and her lower belly tightened as her

core pulsed around his thick length.

When the pressure became too much, and she couldn’t hold out

against the onslaught of sensations any longer, she tumbled over the

edge with Kai’s name on her lips. His soft groan against her ear signaled

his completion as warm wetness filled her depths.

“I love you, Ivy Blackthorn,” he whispered against her ear. “So very

much.”

With her eyes still closed, Ivy grinned against the side of his neck.

With so much to be happy about, she didn’t even bother to correct him

again.

“I know.”

* * * *

the Adderstone cupped in his right hand. They’d planned a lavish

celebration for later in the evening, but bonding ceremonies were private

events, meant for only those close to them.

The wardings had been temporarily removed to allow their friends

and family to join them for the special occasion, though neither of them

had many guests to invite. Sion, Tariq, and Cami stood in loose half-

circle, watching from the edge of the fountain, while Kai’s parents

gathered with Tira on the other side of the cavern.

Tears shimmered in Ava’s eyes, but she looked happier than Kai had

ever seen her. Across the small cave, Cami gripped Tariq’s arm while she

bounced on her toes, her smile bright enough to illuminate the darkest

of nights.

Yet, Kai only had eyes for Ivy.

Taking his mate’s hand, he placed it over his, trapping the blood-red

jewel between them. He’d prepared an entire speech, flowery

declarations of love and devotion, but staring into Ivy’s green eyes, he

forgot them all. Instead, he simply spoke what was in his heart.

“I promise to love you every day until my last breath. I will be your

comfort, your safe harbor, and I will never fail you or break your trust.

You have saved me in every way that matters, and your love has forever

altered me. From now until forever, I am yours.”

Moisture gathered along Ivy’s lashes, and she sniffled quietly, staring

up at him with so much adoration it stole his breath.

“I promise to love you every day until my last breath,” she

whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “I’ll be your best friend, your

advisor, and your greatest ally. You taught me not only to believe in fate,

but what it means to love fearlessly. From now until forever, I am yours.”

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Kai chanted the binding

words in the language of their ancestors, repeating them until the stone

between their joined hands glowed brightly, warming their skin. Beams

of golden light flowed from the Adderstone, twisting together and

winding around their hands in intricate knots, binding them together as

one.

When the light faded and the stone cooled, Kai led his mate to the

edge of the fountain and reached inside the largest basin to pluck a petal

from the
amrita
flower. The salve created from the plant had healed her

outer wounds, but she would need to ingest the petals for the flower to

cure her internally.

Before his fingers touched the soft petals, Ivy’s hand closed over his,

pulling him away.

“No,” she whispered.

“Dove, it will work.” He’d seen the apprehension in her eyes the first

time he’d showed her the fountain. She didn’t want to get her hopes up

only to be let down, and he couldn’t blame her, but she had nothing to

fear. “Let me heal you.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she shook her head, smiling in a

strange way he didn’t understand. “I don’t need it.” Slowly, she guided

his hand to her midsection, pressing his palm against her flat stomach.

“I’m pregnant. Medic Winters confirmed it this morning. That’s why I

was acting so crazy, why I couldn’t sleep or eat.”

Kai swayed on his feet as the room began to spin. “You’re…”

Chuckling, Ivy bobbed her head. “Yes, love, we’re having a baby.”

Gripping the edge of the fountain, Kai lowered himself to the stones.

“I need to sit down.”

Laughter echoed around the cavern as their friends and family came

forward to congratulate them. Everyone hugged Ivy first, assuring her

they’d be there for anything she needed.

“Easy there, son.” Coming up beside him, Elor clapped him on the

shoulder. “Try to breathe.”

“We’re having a baby,” Kai repeated. “I’m going to be someone’s

father.” The realization had him gripping at the ridge of the fountain

again. “I don’t understand.”

“Well,” Sion answered, “you see, how it works is when a man and a

woman really love each other—” He cursed when Ivy walked up and

smacked him in the back of the head.

“Be nice,” she warned. “What Kai means is that I never ate the petals

from the
amrita
. This shouldn’t be possible.”

“Could it be the salve?” It seemed unlikely, and he’d never heard of

such a thing, but no other conclusion made sense.

“No.” Ivy shook her head slowly. “I’m a few weeks along, so I was

pregnant before Wyn attacked me.”

Rage unlike he’d ever felt flowed through him, and Kai squeezed the

basin, crumbling the stone edge in his palm. He’d thought nothing could

compare to the fury he’d felt at seeing Ivy lying on the ground on the

hilltop, cold, bleeding, and barely conscious.

He’d been wrong.

As far as he was concerned, Wyn Nightstar had attacked two people

he loved that day—his soulmate and their unborn child. Lucky for the

sentry he’d already perished, because the death Kai imagined for him

would not have been swift.

Staring into the shallow basin, Ivy tilted her head to the side, a

curious expression playing over her lips. After a moment, she turned,

following one of the streams to where it cascaded over the outcropping

of rocks and into the lake below.

“Where does the water from the lake go?” she asked, still staring

down into the rippling pool.

“It supplies the island,” Elor answered. “It’s purified first of course,

but we use it for drinking water, cooking, bathing, and the like.”

“I don’t really think you need to purify it.” Gliding back over to the

fountain, she pressed the tip of her index finger against a cracked piece

of stone, scoring it down the middle. “Wait,” she said when Kai growled

and reached for her. “Just wait.”

Cleaning the blood off on her plain black tunic, she dipped her finger

into the water and swirled it around several times. When she removed

it, holding it up for everyone to see, the cut appeared days old instead

seconds.

“It’s the water,” she whispered, still examining her finger. “The

flowers heal because of the water.”

Kai had seen the proof with his own eyes, but he could still hardly

believe it. Looking to his father with an arched brow, Kai rose to his feet

and crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you know about this?”

“I can say honestly that I didn’t.”

He sounded sincere, but Kai didn’t know what to believe anymore. It

was possible that everything he’d ever been told was a lie, some bigger

than others.

“I’m putting this on the list of things to figure out another day,” Ivy

said loud enough for everyone in the cavern to hear. “Right now, we

have a party to attend.” She clapped her hands together twice. “And I’m

starving, so let’s go.”

“Plus, we still have to get you ready.” Cami looked over Ivy’s simple

tunic and stretched tights. “That is not going to work for a mating

celebration.”

Ivy wrinkled her nose and groaned. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“No,” Kai interjected, shaking his head as he crossed to stand next to

her. “It’s your celebration, dove, and you can wear whatever makes you

happy. You’re perfect as you are.” Settling his hands on her hips, he

pulled her to him, molding their bodies together and capturing her

mouth in a heated kiss.

“Charmer,” she breathed with a tiny smile when they broke apart.

“Remember that when I’m as big as a house and having mood swings

that make me act like ten pounds of crazy in a five pound bag.” Her hand

went to her stomach again, rubbing it in slow circles. “We’ll see if you

still think I’m so perfect then.”

He cradled her cheek, holding his entire future there in the palm of

his hand. For her, he’d be whatever she needed him to be—mate, partner,

protector, lover—and she’d never be anything less than perfect to him.

“Always.”

Nearly three weeks had passed since she’d become Vasera Ivy

Blackthorn, and she couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d ever

been happier. Her first official duty as the new queen of Sommervail

would be to speak at the summit in two weeks’ time, addressing a room

of nearly four hundred delegates from around the planet.

She didn’t look forward to the task, but the people of Xenthian

needed to know the facts if they hoped to discuss the future of the planet

intelligently.